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diff --git a/research/cpu.page b/research/cpu.page new file mode 100644 index 0000000..187c52a --- /dev/null +++ b/research/cpu.page @@ -0,0 +1,142 @@ + +# Big Picture + +*(circa Q1 2012)* + +The generic term "System on a Chip" refers to the fact that the CPU and many +"peripherals" (USB, ethernet, memory controller, GPU) are integraded into a +single package instead of being distributed across a motherboard via a +northbridge and southbridge. There still needs to be external analog and +digital circuitry for most "connectivity" interfaces like USB or ethernet to +provide level conversion, isolation, etc. Notably, RAM is not usually +integraded into the chip, and the large parallel bus to the RAM chips must be +routed very carefully. Some newer chips (popular circa 2010?) include "package +on package" technology where the RAM chip is right on top of the SoC to make +routing easier (eg, iPhones, RaspberryPI). + +The establishment players for mobile ARM SoCs are TI (OMAP), Qualcomm +([Snapdragon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdragon_(System_on_Chip))), not +regular ARM), Samsung ([Exynos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exynos))), Marvell +(Armada, Armada XP, ) + +The establishment players for MIPS SoCs are Broadcom and Marvell (Kirkwood). + +[http://www.quora.com/What-ARM-SoC-families-currently-support-PCIe-and-which-ones-have-PCIe-support-planned](What ARM SoC families currently support PCIe, and which ones have PCIe support planned?) (quora, 2011) + +# ARM + +### Freescale i.MX6 + +<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.MX#i.MX6x_series> + +40nm process. 1.2GHz Cortex A9, up to 4 cores, includes vidoe processing +"stuff". Single PCIe, GigE, SATA, 64bit RAM bus, $10-20 price range, available +summer 2012? Sabre Lite DevKits available to some? +[linaro link with specs](https://wiki.linaro.org/Boards/MX6QSabreLite) + +Prices? + + i.MX6 Solo 1GHz: ~$11 @ 10k+ + i.MX6 Dual 1GHz: ~$23 @ 1k+ + i.MX6 Dual lite: ~$16 @ 1k+ + + Part Number Product Description 2013 @ 10Ku + MCIMX6S5DVM10AA i.MX 6Solo Consumer - 1GHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$11 + MCIMX6U5DVM10AA i.MX 6DualLite Consumer - 1GHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$16 + MCIMX6D5EYM10AB i.MX 6Dual Consumer Ext. Temp - 1GHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$21 + MCIMX6D5EYM12AB i.MX 6Dual Consumer Ext. Temp ? 1.2GHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$23 + MCIMX6D7CVT08AB i.MX 6Dual Industrial Temp ? 800MHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$24 + MCIMX6Q5EYM10AB i.MX 6Quad Consumer Ext. Temp - 1GHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$26 + MCIMX6Q5EYM12AB i.MX 6Quad Consumer Ext. Temp ? 1.2GHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$29 + MCIMX6Q7CVT08AB i.MX 6Quad Industrial Temp ? 800MHz w/ VPU&GPU ~$30 + +### Marvell Armada XP + +[Marvell MV78200](http://www.marvell.com/embedded-processors/discovery-innovation/applications.jsp) + + - 4 GigE ports + - 2x 1GHz armv5 chips + - 2x SATA + - 2x PCIe x4 + - "$60 or less" (?) + +Samples available from +[nu horizons](http://www.nuhorizons.com/featuredproducts/portal/samples/January_2012.asp) + +Apple experimenting with these chip? [arstechnica article](http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/09/support-for-quad-core-arm-cpu-shows-up-in-apples-xcode-but-why.ars) + +### TI OMAP4 + +PandaBoard's OMAP4460: + + - up to 1.5GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 + +### Calxeda "EnergyCore" + +Going for massively parallelized market, with hundreds of cors in a rack. + +ECX-1000 is 4 Cortex-A9 at 1.1-1.4ghz, 5watts with 4gb DDR3 RAM. SATA and PCIe, +72bitwidth DDR3 controller (32bit addressing), up to 5 10GigE ports with +"routing fabric". Hard FPU. + + +### Allwinner A10 + +A Chinese-made fast+cheap ($5 in volume) tablet-oriented chip. + + - 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A8, with MALI GPU + - "$5 in volume" + - NAND flash controller + - 4 SDIO interfaces + - SATA-II (3 gb/sec... bit?) + - 10/100 Ethernet + +Links: + + - <http://elinux.org/Hack_A10_devices> + - <http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/> + - <http://www.wits-tech.com/pages/board.jsp> + - SDK and tools docs <http://www.cnx-software.com/2011/12/28/allwinner-a10a1x-processor-resources-development-board-and-sdk/> + +### Nvidia Tegra + +Has PCIe? + +### ST SPEAr1340 + +[pre-production](http://www.st.com/internet/mcu/product/251211.jsp): + + - 2x Cortex-A9 cores up to 600MHz + - 32bit DDR3-1066 memory bus, up to 1GB addressable + - 1x GigE port + - 1x PCIe 2.0 lane + +# MIPS + +Ingenic jz4760B + +# x86 + +# PowerPC + +AppliedMicro APM86290 + +# Other + + - [Rhombus Tech CPU eval list](http://rhombus-tech.net/evaluated_cpus/) + + - [Marvell Avanta](http://www.marvell.com/broadband/) ethernet switch SoCs + + - Marvell Prestera EX/MX enterprise packet processors + + - Freescale QorIQ DPAA + + - TI [OMAP5 overview](http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/TI-OMAP5430-and-OMAP5432-CES-demos/) + + - TI Sitara AM389x has PCIe? $40+ in 1k quantities? + - 1x PCIe + - up to 1.5GHz Cortex-A8 + - 2x 32bit DDR3-1600 interfaces + - GigE ethernet + - 1031FCBGA package (1k pins?) + |